ICE consists of three directorates to accomplish the agency’s mission, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Management and Administration (M&A).

ICE executes its mission through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes, and focuses on smart immigration enforcement, preventing terrorism and combating the illegal movement of people and trade. (read more)

Learn more about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including facts about investigations, immigration enforcement and removal operations, and management and administration information. (read more)

To ensure openness and transparency and to better serve those seeking more information about ICE and its operations, the agency centralized processing of all ICE-related Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in a single office.

HSI special agents assigned to HSI’s Cyber Crimes Group executed a federal search warrant Jan. 8 at Swan’s home in northeast El Paso. The special agents seized various items including desktop computers, external drives and other electronic media devices. A preliminary forensic examination of the desktop computers revealed videos depicting minors being sexually exploited.

According to court records, Swan told HSI special agents he downloaded and possesses a large amount of child pornography. He stated he prefers child pornography that involves 10-year-old children and older.

Swan is a registered sex offender, who was arrested July 27, 2005, for possessing and distributing child pornography. On Dec. 12, 2006, following his conviction, he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison, which was to be followed by five years of supervised release. He was released from prison in 2012.

"Crimes against children will not be tolerated," said Dennis A. Ulrich, special agent in charge of HSI El Paso. "HSI will pursue anyone who sexually exploits children."

The advent of technologies, such as the Internet, has tremendously increased predators’ accessibility to child pornography, Ulrich said. But HSI can use similar technologies to identify and catch these child predators.

Swan made his initial appearance Jan. 9 in court, where a U.S. federal magistrate judge ordered him to remain detained pending court proceedings. His detention hearing is set for Jan. 14.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

Related Information

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries about ICE activities, operations, or policies, contact the ICE Office of Public Affairs at (202) 732-4242.